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American Morning
Hurricane Humberto Makes Landfall; President Bush to Sell Iraq Strategy; Genetic Tests: Should They be Advertised?
Aired September 13, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Breaking news. Humberto surprise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rain really starting to sting as it comes ashore.
CHETRY: Growing to a hurricane overnight and blasting the Gulf Coast.
Plus, overloaded.
NANCY NORD, ACTING CHAIRWOMAN, CPSC: Our very tiny agency has been trying to work aggressively to address this.
CHETRY: Why the government isn't doing more to keep tainted toys off the shelves, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And welcome once again. Glad you're with us on this Thursday, September 13th.
I'm Kiran Chetry in New York.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts, here in Washington, where tonight President Bush addresses the nation. We'll have that news for you all day long here on CNN.
Right now we're following breaking news regarding Hurricane Humberto. It made landfall. It's now bringing a huge amount of rain to the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts. It was barely on anyone's radar just 24 hours ago, then blew up into a hurricane overnight, made landfall near High Island, Texas. That's just to the east of Galveston Bay.
Humberto now heading into northwest Louisiana.
We're covering all the angles of this storm this morning. Rob Marciano at the CNN weather desk tracking the radar.
We begin though with Ed Lavandera. He's in Beaumont, Texas.
And Ed, this is was a collection of storms just sitting out there in the Gulf for a couple of days, suddenly picked up a lot of speed. It's already gone through the area that you're in and on its way back out.
What did it leave behind?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we had a few intense hours here this morning as Hurricane Humberto roared into shore on this area of southeast Texas. And I just spoke with an official from the sheriff's department here in Beaumont who says they have some reports of just a few roads that have been flooded out. They do have high-water rescue teams and other emergency crews out in the county surveying the damage.
The worst of the damage they've been -- that has been reported to them so far was two trailers that flipped over because of the winds overnight and an elderly woman that had to be rescued out of one of those. But all in all, not a bad night, considering how intense these storms were overnight and just how quickly it formed. Official here say they were ready for a small-level storm, but many people here surprised by just how intense and how quickly this storm intensified overnight and came ashore this morning -- John.
ROBERTS: And Ed, how long is it going to take for the water, if there is any accumulation there, to go down? Typically in Texas, the water goes up quickly and goes back down just as quickly. But because of the saturation that that area has experienced over the last few months, could it stick around for days, rather than hours?
LAVANDERA: I'm not getting that sense that people think it's going to stick around for days. In fact, I was listening to one of the weather experts here in the Houston area who was also saying that even though it's been raining intensely throughout the summer months, that one of the benefits they do have in this area, that over the last week, week and a half or so, there hasn't been any rain, and that has given the ground some time to dry out. So they hope that will help alleviate some of the flooding, and if there is flooding intensely in some areas, that it will help those situations to quickly dry up and get everything back to normal.
ROBERTS: Our Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Beaumont, Texas, watching Humberto roar through.
Ed, thanks very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, and Rob Marciano is at the CNN weather desk tracking the storm for us on where Humberto is headed next.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kiran.
The latest out of the National Hurricane Center now, the 8:00 advisory is out and it holds its hurricane status, 80-mile-an-hour winds. Here are the latest numbers now from the National Hurricane Center.
It's centered about 25 miles west/northwest of Lake Charles, Louisiana, or about 104 miles northeast of Galveston. It will continue to weaken, but it is not doing so at a rapid pace at the moment.
So we are still in a hurricane and it is still acting as such as the rain bands continue to swirl in, especially now across parts of southwest Louisiana. And some of the rainfall rates in this area, two to four inches an hour. Same deal with the eye wall, which is now making its way across the border, the center of which is now -- well, actually, just over the Sabine Pass, it looks like, and the heaviest amounts of rain and wind heading into Calcasieu and Beauregard parishes there. No doubt seeing a tremendous amount of wind.
And we've already had some wind damage with 75,000 or so people without power. And then the threat for tornadoes will continue in this area as well. And also, the threat for storm surge will continue for the next couple of hours, likely two to at least four feet above average in and through Cameron Parish there in southwest Louisiana.
Still a hurricane, John Roberts. Eighty-mile-an-hour sustained winds, and its movement off to the northeast now at 12 miles an hour.
Back up to you.
ROBERTS: It just shows, Rob, you can never let your guard down with these things.
While President Bush prepares to address the nation tonight about Iraq, this morning we have new numbers showing what Americans think about how the president is handling his job.
A new CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll out this morning shows the president's approval rating at 36 percent. That's where it was a month ago. Sixty-one percent disapprove.
Thirty-four percent believe the president's policies would move the country in the right direction. Sixty-one percent say they're moving us in the wrong direction.
As for the Democrats in Congress, 50 percent of Americans believe their policies would move the country in the right direction. Thirty- nine percent, though, say it would be the wrong direction.
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now live from the north lawn of the White House with a preview of tonight's speech.
What do we expect to hear the president say today? You've been finding out some details, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. The president is still, we are told, putting the finishing touches on that speech. We're told that it runs less than 20 minutes right now, which is what the White House had been saying all along.
Now, the president is expected to reiterate some familiar themes in that primetime address to the nation tonight. A senior Bush administration official says that the president will be trying once more to connect success in Iraq to security in the United States and he'll also recap the security gains that have been made in the Al Anbar province of Iraq.
Now, on the heels of that congressional testimony by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the president is expected to go through and sign off on the general's recommendations which include, of course, drawing down potentially U.S. forces to a pre- surge level of 130,000 troops, depending on conditions on the ground. But Democrats, as you know, charge that that doesn't amount to any kind of change in policy or shift in strategy at all. They note that these troop reductions were already slated to happen because of normal troop rotations -- John.
ROBERTS: Is the goal here, Elaine, to keep Republicans who are sort of sitting on the fence from going over to the Democratic side? Is the president trying to convince their constituents that, hey, everything is going to be OK, take the pressure off those lawmakers?
QUIJANO: Yes, that is absolutely the goal here. And as you know, it's going to be a critical next few months if the White House can, in fact, keep Republicans on board -- and it looks like in the immediate future they will be able to do that -- that there is going to be a great deal of pressure if there is no sign of political movement at the very top levels in Baghdad on that critical issue of national reconciliation.
The White House understands full well that Republicans will not be able to continue supporting the president on his Iraq policy. That's why tonight we're going to hear the president talk about so- called bottom-up reconciliation, bottom-up political progress at the local level.
The president argues, look, that can be duplicated in other parts of the country just as it has taken place in the Al Anbar province. But, of course, the president's critics in Iraq, experts note, that some of these sectarian divisions run so deep that no amount of U.S. forces are going to be able to bring those disparate groups together -- John.
ROBERTS: Yes. And to repeat that sort of success on the Shiite side, you have to get the Mehdi army working together with the U.S. military. And no sign of that happening.
QUIJANO: That's right.
ROBERTS: Elaine Quijano at the White House for us this morning.
Elaine, thanks.
And join us tonight for a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM". It all begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, goes right through the president's address, which is set for 9:00 Eastern. And then "LARRY KING LIVE" will have a post-game show for us immediately following the president's speech -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it's time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for some other stories new this morning. Oil soars to new highs, breaking $80 a barrel for the first time before dipping back down a little bit.
Ali Velshi watching this from our update business desk.
And you got your barrel with you this morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Got my barrel with me. And in fact, you're right, it crossed $80 a barrel, going as high as $80.18 in electronic trading yesterday, settling down to $79.91, which is the highest level at which a barrel of crude oil at NYMEX has ever settled at, up $1.68, as you can see.
Now, we're continuing to check that, gas prices. The average price for a gallon of gasoline yesterday went down $2.80, down about a cent, but we're still waiting to see if gas prices are going to track these oil prices.
I'm always giving you bad news these days, Kiran, so I'm going to give you some good news. Take a look at this car. It's a concept car, but Toyota calls it the world's smallest four-seater concept car, dubbed the IQ. It was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
It's three inches shorter than the Mini. It's expected in showrooms, or some version of it, in about two years. It will probably cost about $20,000 if it's available in the United States.
The interesting thing here is it's got space for three adults and what they describe as a small child or luggage. You've got to get the kid or you get the luggage. And if you get the kid, make sure the kid doesn't grow too much, because it's clearly not for four adults. It's a removable fourth seat.
So keep an eye out for that. It will probably save you a lot of money on gasoline.
CHETRY: Yes. It makes sense if you're, you know, living in a little, small area, running some errands back and forth.
VELSHI: Yes, totally. Yes, the Europeans have this one mastered.
CHETRY: Maybe not a big highway road-tripper, though, huh?
VELSHI: That's -- exactly. That you need the SUV for.
CHETRY: You'd have to strap your dog to the roof of the car. You know?
VELSHI: I remember that.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: All right.
CHETRY: Well, a new television ad that urges women to get a genetic test to see if they are likely to get breast cancer is making headlines this week. Take a look at the ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My grandmother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad's sisters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wondered if it would be inevitable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found out it didn't have to be. I found out my risk through BRAC Analysis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: BRAC Analysis...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There it is, BRAC Analysis, as they're calling it. Critics of the ad say that it may scare women unnecessarily or even give a false sense of security. Myriad Genetics, the sponsor of the ad, say that they have an obligation to educate women about genetic testing. So we wanted our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, to break it down for us.
Elizabeth, Connecticut's attorney general actually is looking into this ad. Why is it raising such a stir?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's raising such a stir, Kiran, because some people think that these ads could be misleading, that it makes it sound like a lot of women could have what are called BRACA genes, genes that put you at a very high risk for having breast cancer when, in fact, only a tiny number of women have these BRACA genes.
About two percent of all breast cancers are caused by BRACA genes, most of them are caused by some other gene or just by chance. So some people say these ads do a little bit of fear mongering. As you said, Myriad Genetics says that they're just educating women about genetic-stemmed (ph) breast cancer.
CHETRY: All right. And the ads also don't mention some of the pitfalls about genetic testing. Tell us about those.
COHEN: Right, there are some pitfalls.
First of all, it costs about $3,000, and insurance often doesn't pay for it. So that's something to think about right there.
Another potential pitfall is that if you're positive for these genes, you could have problems getting health insurance or life insurance in the future. And your employer might find out that you have these genes and that you have a very high likelihood of getting breast cancer. And another pitfall that people often don't think about is that, let's say you are positive. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to lob your breasts off? I mean, that is a huge step to take.
And what about your sisters? Are you going to tell them, hey, guess what? I have the gene, you should get tested, too, and maybe they will become worried? So there are a lot of things that you have to think about before you do genetic testing.
CHETRY: OK. And quickly, if you do test positive for the gene, does it mean that you're definitely going to get breast cancer?
COHEN: No, it doesn't. It means that you have up to about an 80 percent chance of getting breast cancer depending upon what kind of mutation you have. So it definitely increases your chances of getting breast cancer.
CHETRY: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks a lot -- John.
ROBERTS: Hey, President Bush addresses the nation tonight on Iraq. He's expected to announce plans to withdraw up to 30,000 troops by next summer.
Joining us now with a preview is CNN political analyst of slate.com, John Dickerson.
You heard us -- you heard me talking to Elaine Quijano just a little while ago. The president's goal is to try to keep Republicans from defecting to the Democratic side.
How much chance does he have if doing that? You know, sort of, who's in the lurch here, what are they looking for?
JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, what they're looking for is something to help them. There are 21 Republicans up in the Senate for election in 2008. The president is going to be gone. These Republicans need something to say, so they're looking to the president to give them a little bit of cover, but they are not buying on to what he says, and so they're trying to work with Democrats. The Democrats are also kind of moving to the middle, trying to find some way to work with these moderate Republicans to do something to take control of this Iraq strategy.
ROBERTS: Yes, it's obvious that some of the Republicans still aren't very happy. Susan Collins has expressed her ongoing concern, as has Olympia Snowe, both of them from Maine. Chuck Hagel, though he's not going to seek re-election, you know, he said, what are we buying time for?
DICKERSON: That's right. But the question is, what exactly are they prepared to do?
Are they going to sign on with Democrats to cut funding? No, they won't did that. So, can they effect something that they can then appeal to Democrats and say, look, this will be sufficient enough for you Democrats so that it won't look like another sellout for Democrats? Because the liberal base of the Democratic Party thinks that Democratic leaders are selling out by not doing enough, by not pressuring the president enough.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes. And we saw that MoveOn.org ad the other day calling General Petraeus "General Betray Us". It was curious that none of the Democrats came out and criticized MoveOn.org, though they did sort of distance themselves from that idea.
Is MoveOn.org that powerful?
DICKERSON: Well, they are -- they are quite powerful, and they remember and they keep track and they punish. And you're quite right, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama were both asked about it and they didn't -- they didn't criticize MoveOn. They also didn't criticize General Petraeus.
ROBERTS: Right. Hey, Giuliani, though, was critical of the Democrats.
Let's take a quick listen to what he had to say about this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and John Edwards were calling for the withdrawal of troops and asking for something totally extraordinary. That an American Army in a time of war would give the enemy a timetable of their retreat. I've never heard of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What kind of position, John, are the Democrats in? They've been completely critical of the report and of the ongoing battle plan, but what happens if this works?
DICKERSON: Well, they're in a tricky position, but they are, in fact, where the American public is, at least on the question of the war. And so they've got the upper hand right now.
And the question of working is tricky, of course, because while there maybe military progress, what there has been no kind of progress on is the political side. And that is still something that they can hold on to as they rebut the president's claims tonight.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll see what the president has to say.
We should mention, too, that slate.com, in conjunction with huffingtonpost.com, has done what you're calling a political mashup. You talked to all of the Democratic candidates -- Charlie Rose did -- you put that all online. That goes up a little bit later on today and people can click on the various issues that they are interested in and hear from the candidates.
DICKERSON: That's right. They can hear what the candidate says on Iraq, or if they want to hear about health care, they can go listen to that.
ROBERTS: Great idea. Looking forward to it.
John Dickerson, as always, thanks -- Kiran.
DICKERSON: Thanks.
CHETRY: And still ahead, certainly not fun and games. The toy industry and government regulators under fire for not doing more about tainted toys. Ahead, we're going to talk to the woman in charge of making sure products are safe and to find out why so many bad ones have been slipping through the cracks lately.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And we have up indicate date on the big news story of the morning. That's Hurricane Humberto, now slamming the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast. This is the first hurricane to hit Texas since Hurricane Rita did a lot of damage back in 2005.
Well, here's another look at just how powerful it was to be in the middle of the storm. Our reporter Wayne Dolcefino of KTRK getting poured on and tossed around by hurricane-strength winds. He was in an area that was right between Houston and Beaumont, close to the Gulf of Mexico. And as you can see, it was quite a bear to be out there at that time.
Also, we have a breaking story overseas. Three powerful earthquakes hitting Indonesia today alone. That's also in addition to the big one that struck yesterday. But today, a 6.4, a 7.8 and a 7.1, all rumbling over the island of Sumatra earlier today. Witnesses report several buildings collapsed and others caught fire -- John.
ROBERTS: And as Dave Applegate from the U.S. Geological Survey told us last hour, that particular section that went today has been waiting since something like 1842 to rupture.
Toy safety has been a focus on Capitol Hill. The CEO of Mattel admitted that his company made mistakes with imports from China. Mattel recently recalled millions of toys, including Barbie, Polly Pocket and "Cars" movie items over lead paint and concerns about tiny magnets that could come off and make a choking hazard.
Nancy Nord is the acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Her organization also under fire surrounding all of this.
Good morning to you, Nancy.
We'll get to the criticism that has been leveled at your organization in just a second. But first of all, we banned here in the United States lead paint from toys 30 years ago.
NORD: That's right.
ROBERTS: China came out in the last couple of days and said, OK, we're not going to use lead paint anymore. Why did they ever think it was acceptable in the first place?
NORD: Well, lead paint has been used in products for a number of years. When we understood the health risks, we banned it. Unfortunately, other countries around the world did not do that.
It's really important that China understand that lead in paint is not acceptable in the United States. We have a law against it, we're going to enforce it.
What's really very encouraging to me was the fact that very senior government officials from China came over, they sat down with me for two days, and they made some very specific commitments of things they are going to do to make sure that this problem gets addressed and corrected. And I think that's progress.
ROBERTS: Well, let's hope that they follow up on it.
Yesterday, hearings up on Capitol Hill. Dick Durbin, who was chairing those hearings, was a little bit critical of your organization. Let's hear what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: The Consumer Product Safety Commission has failed in not providing adequate resources, staffing, or perhaps the will to deal with the important issues that they face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: How do you address that?
NORD: Well, of course the CPSC does not provide the staffing or the resources. That's up to Congress. If Congress gives us more resources, boy, I will put them to work. But this agency is small, but, you know, it's very tough and it is tenacious.
We get the job done when we see a problem. We attack it and we solve it.
ROBERTS: The CEO of Mattel, Robert Eckert, was also on the Hill yesterday. He apologized for letting lead-tainted toys under the Mattel brand get on the market.
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ECKERT, CEO, MATTEL: Our systems were circumvented and our standards were violated. We were let down and we let you down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So he says, "We were let down," suggesting it's all China's fault. But these companies go to China to save millions a dollar a year in manufacturing. Do they not bear more responsibility than that? NORD: The person, the company that sells the product in the United States has an obligation to make sure that the product they sell is safe. And if they make it here or if they make it in China, that obligation exists. And what is very important is to drive home the fact that the best way to deal with toy safety, safety of any kind, is to make sure that the product is manufactured correctly.
QUESTION: Really quickly, a yes or no answer, could you use more teeth in terms of fines and regulation?
NORD: I'm a girl that always wants more.
ROBERTS: OK.
Nancy Nord from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Thanks very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the hunt for four escaped prisoners in Tennessee topping your "Quick Hits" now.
A total of seven inmates broke out of the jail near Knoxville Tuesday night. Authorities say they told a guard that they needed ice, then they attacked him when he brought it. Three of the prisoners were captured yesterday.
And police in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, arrested an armed man that they say tried to hijack a van that was filled with children from a daycare center. Police say when the van's driver got out to pick up a child yesterday morning, the suspect jumped in and drove away. Police picked him up a short time later after he ditched the van.
Truth in advertising? Apparently not. Some mortgage lenders are now in the crosshairs of the Federal trade Commission. But after all we've been through in the mortgage meltdown, what took them so long?
Gerri Willis is here with some answers coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back.
Well, even with all the news lately about mortgage meltdowns, problems in the industry, some mortgage companies are still running ads the government says are misleading, offering deals that might be too good to be true, targeting people, perhaps, that would not be able to pay these loans in the long run. Well, now the Federal Trade Commission is stepping in.
And our CNN personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is following this for us.
Thanks for being with us, by the way.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: So they're looking into this. What -- which companies though received these warning letters?
WILLIS: Well, that would be a great question. Let me tell you first just a little bit what they were looking at -- low teaser rates, low, low mortgage -- monthly mortgages. And it begs the question, why did it take so long for the FCC to act? After all, you know, we've been in this mortgage meltdown for a while.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEGGY TWOHIG, FTC: Well, actually, we've been very active in doing law enforcement in the subprime mortgage market for many years now. We've brought over 20 actions that have returned over $320 million to consumers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: Well, obviously, the FTC is proud of its enforcement action, but I've got to tell you, Kiran, these actions took place over 10 years. So they've been very slow to roll out what they're doing.
CHETRY: So who did they send them to?
WILLIS: Don't I wish I knew? We asked the question, we wanted to know. Here is the answer we got from the FTC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TWOHIG: At this point we think it's better to just warn the public, get the message out there to advertisers to take a look at what they're doing, to make sure they're complying with the law, and then we intend to follow up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: All right. So the FTC is following its procedures, you're not really getting any answers, even though it could help a ton of people right now if they knew the names of the mortgage lenders who are in the crosshairs.
If you have a question about the advertising you're seeing in the marketplace, if you feel like you've been misled, go to FTC.gov. That's where you can complain.
CHETRY: That is mind-boggling. With all the trouble that's been going on, they won't say what companies they are targeting for the possibility that they're not being totally truthful.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIS: I agree with you on this. Yes. I think, first of all, why were they so slow to act in this case? And then, if you're investigating people, let us know. We could really use that information right now. Of course, there is good news right now, Kiran. Yesterday, the Senate approved a measure that would give $100 million to foreclosure assistance programs. This is a good deal for consumers out there who are really fighting that growing mortgage.
People will get help with getting new loans, getting assistance with loans if Congress approves it. But it went through the Senate, $100 million there.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Gerri, thank you.
And by the way, keep watching, because Gerri has more. She is going to talk about some real solutions for your mortgage problems Saturday, 9:30 Eastern Time right here on CNN. "OPEN HOUSE" every weekend, of course.
Gerri, thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: Well, here's something coming up that you just can't miss. Maybe you should listen to it.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
HARRY CONNICK, JR., SINGER (SINGING): It had to be you. It had to be you
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHETRY: How about that, John? Harry Connick, Jr., and the beautiful sounds of Harry Connick. He's going to be joining us live, actually, to talk about his love for native New Orleans and also this new thing that he is starting there, this musical village.
ROBERTS: Plus, the secret that Harry Connick, Jr., has kept for a long time that he is now ready to share with everyone watching.
Stay with us. We're going to have that when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A live picture from New Orleans this morning of Habitat for Humanity's latest project. It's a very colorful musician's village there in New Orleans. The inspiration of Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford, Marsalis. We're going to be speaking with Harry Connick, Jr. coming up. As we listen to his music about this new musician's village. What it means to people and a little secret that he has been keeping that we want to share with you as well.
Welcome back, thanks for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It's Thursday, September 13th. I'm John Roberts in Washington as we await the president's prime time address tonight.
CHETRY: Yeah and I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York. We look forward to that. We also look forward to checking in with Harry Connick in New Orleans. Of course known for its wonderful music for so long and of course known for the tragedy of hurricane Katrina. And Harry Connick who has deep roots in New Orleans, wants to do something to change that. So we're going to check in with him in a few minutes.
First, though, we have some breaking news. Hurricane Humberto slamming the Texas coast this morning. This storm just formed yesterday afternoon rather quickly, taking some by surprise. It stirred up for several hours, able to get organized in a way that made it a hurricane force, a category one by the time it made landfall. In fact, the sheriff in Galveston, Texas says that rescue teams went out there to save two elderly couples that were stranded in their homes. Here is some new video you see right now of the flooded streets. The torrential rain he said flooded almost everything. Rob Marciano is tracking the storm for us right now. It went through parts that didn't need the rain. Later, we could see Humberto go into parts of our country that do badly need some wet weather.
MARCIANO: Yes, we'll get a little bit of good news from this system. Obviously the bad news is that folks are getting rain that doesn't need it and they got hit with a hurricane overnight and still getting hit with a hurricane. Because this thing kind of blew up and intensified pretty quickly as it was making landfall, it's not really weakening all that quickly. So we're still dealing with a full- fledged hurricane with winds of 80 miles an hour and quite a bit of moisture coming in off the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the rainfall rates in here by the way, two to four inches per hour. So there will be definitely some flooding there. Right now it has crossed the border of the Sabine River and through Calcasieu Parish and getting up towards Beauregard Parish. And this is the area that's probably the most intense rainfall right now and some winds. And here is the forecast track now. The national hurricane center bends it around, it does weaken it and brings some of this moisture back into places that do need it but also notice the southern edge of that forecast track gets it close to the Gulf of Mexico again. That could be interesting. John, back over to you.
ROBERTS: All right, Rob, thanks very much.
New this morning, Democrats are drawing battle lines over General David Petraeus' recommendation to move back to pre-surge troop levels in Iraq by July of next year. The White House says it's the way to win. Democrats, though, say it's not enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: The president has told us to be patient, allow the spilling of more American blood, more of our treasury.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This seems to be an opportunity, whether people want to seize it, do it politically, it seems to be an opportunity to get together and do two things. Number one, if you believe in the troops and support them, why don't you acknowledge and celebrate their success? This ought to be a time for people to say, job well done. And the second thing is, to ask the question, what do you need, and that is, because they're bad guys, they're out there, Helen, and they don't want to go away.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The Petraeus plan would bring home 30,000 U.S. troops by July of next year would leave 130,000 in the war zone without a timetable for their withdrawal. Though Petraeus said might be able to start talking about that around March of next year. CNN will bring you live coverage of the president's speech tonight beginning at 9:00 eastern. We'll have complete coverage starting with a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" at 7:00 and then "LARRY KING LIVE" after the president's address until 10:00 p.m. and Anderson Cooper live from Iraq.
Yet another powerful earthquake has struck Indonesia. This latest one hit the northern part of the country this morning, measured 6.2. It follows two very strong quakes that struck earlier today, a magnitude 7.8 and a 7.1. Both of those hit around Sumatra and triggered tsunami warnings as far away as Africa. Some of those are still in effect. It all began with yesterday's quake that measured 8.4. At least nine people have died in the quakes and several buildings have collapsed. Kiran?
CHETRY: Quick hits now. Five convicted sex offenders may be set free after a judge in North Carolina struck down a federal law. It allowed the government to keep some sex offenders in custody even after their prison sentences were over. The judge has ruled that that's unconstitutional to hold someone over the fear that they might commit a crime in the future.
$94 billion, that's how much it could cost if we were to send all 12 million illegal immigrants home. The estimate comes from the head of immigration and customs enforcement who told a senate committee that number includes the cost of detaining illegal immigrants and transportation at about a grand per person.
Coming up we're going to be live from Harry Connick Jr.'s hometown. A new project that's getting started officially today, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARNEY GIMBEL, WRITER, FORTUNE: There's a little known secret to a lot of frequent flyer tickets. You can have a free stopover in another city for the same price or the same number of miles required for the ticket. A stopover is a planned stop en route that lasts more than four hours. If you're going to see your grandmother who lives in rural Illinois, you could stop in Chicago for a couple of days and then connect on. So essentially you're getting two trips for the price of one. The stop over city has to be on the way. Try to plan it in a hub city like Atlanta or Dallas or Chicago where the airline has a lot of connecting flights through. Not every airline actually allows you to do this so it's very important to check.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: They're making beautiful music in New Orleans once again today. It is the sound of hard work as well, hammering, sawing, sweeping, all by volunteers of Habitat for Humanity. They're carrying out the dreams of two musical native sons, Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis. They're breaking ground today for the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. It's going to be a performance hall and even more exciting it's going to be located in the heart of what is going to be known as the Musicians Village, a new community where New Orleans' famed musicians can own their own homes and let the bands play on. Harry Connick, Jr. joins us now from Musicians Village. Harry good morning, great to talk to you.
HARRY CONNICK, JR., MUSICIAN: Good morning, it's good to be here.
CHETRY: So this is really a labor of love for you. You wanted to find a community where many of these musicians who were displaced by Katrina could find a new place to gather. Tell us how this project got started.
CONNICK: Well, right after hurricane Katrina, Branford Marsalis and I were on our way to Houston to go visit some of the evacuees at the superdome and we were throwing around ideas with regard to trying to bring some of the people who were displaced back to New Orleans, namely, the musicians. New Orleans is so known for its musical culture and heritage. We wanted to make sure that they would have a future here so we teamed up with Habitat for Humanity and came up with the idea of the Musicians Village. I'm standing in the center of it now. It's going to be about 70 houses, about 10 elder friendly duplex apartments and today the reason we're here is because we're breaking ground for the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, which is going to be a performing facility, recording facility and just a general hangout for the people in the area. And it's going to sort of ensure that the musicians of older generations will be able to pass on their knowledge to the ones from the younger generations.
CHETRY: You know it is just so great to see the beautiful brightly colored homes that people spent all of these hours building with Habitat for Humanity, because this is in the lower ninth ward, an area when you saw the devastation it literally looked like a third world country after hurricane Katrina. How do the various people qualify to be able to move into one of those homes?
CONNICK: Well, Habitat has had a system in place for many, many years, which is sort of been a model for things of this nature and they have their criteria for applications and for people who are interested in low income housing. With regard to the details, you probably would be better suited to talk to somebody that works with Habitat. But what I can tell you is people from New Orleans who had been displaced were in dire need of a place to be and this has just been an absolute blessing from God, this whole Musicians Village. It's just been wonderful.
CHETRY: Harry, what have they said to you? What are their reactions as they see their new homes? CONNICK: Well, you know, everybody is thrilled. I'm among them. It's really -- people are just -- they're thrilled. I think the whole concept here is to get people out of a renter's mentality and provide them with an opportunity for home ownership which, in this case, is a much better deal and they're absolutely elated. The homes, as you can see, are just beautiful, and they're more than houses now. As I come back over the weeks and months, I see that they're really turning into homes and I can tell you that about 70 to 80 percent of them are occupied by musicians. You know, and not too distant -- in the not too distant future, I think this is going to be the hangout here in New Orleans, so it's looking pretty promising.
CHETRY: They really need it, especially after they get the Marsalis Music Center all built and people can start going there. Hey there was one special man, Chuck Beattie, 81 years old, he lost his car during hurricane Katrina. And you really had a connection with him.
CONNICK: Right.
CHETRY: You wanted to surprise him today. Go ahead.
CONNICK: Well, I'm down in New Orleans doing a commercial for Lincoln Mercury. They have a dream campaign which is all about making people's dreams come true. And I'm proud to be associated with Lincoln Mercury. With regard to Chuck Beattie, he is a true living legend. He is the oldest member, although by looking at him, he certainly, by no means, looks like he is! He's the oldest member of the Musicians village. He has played with some of the great musicians of all time, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie. Chuck, why don't you come out here, man. It's a great honor for me to introduce Chuck Beattie to you. How are you, Mr. Beattie? As we were just saying, Lincoln Mercury has provided us with a great opportunity. Mr. Beattie lost his car. What did you call the car?
CHUCK BEATTIE: The black eagle. Everybody in the lower ninth ward knew that automobile!
CONNICK: Well, the car was destroyed and we're very proud, myself, along with Lincoln Mercury, to present you with the keys to this brand new MKX.
BEATTIE: Thank you very much.
CONNICK: Which is right over there?
BEATTIE: Thank you, brother.
CONNICK: And you're going to be styling. Let's go over to the car.
CHETRY: Harry, he doesn't look 81 at all. I hope we all look that good when we're 81. He looks fabulous!
CONNICK: I'm telling you, you know, they offered him the opportunity with Habitat you have to put in what they call sweat equity and help build your own house. He is out there laying bricks and doing the real hard, heavy stuff. This guy, I wouldn't want to mess with him, I tell you that!
CHETRY: He looks great. Congratulations to you, Chuck.
BEATTIE: I'm going on 83.
CONNICK: Oh, by the way, he is going on 83!
CHETRY: 83?
CONNICK: He's not 81. I think he's getting older, but he's looking younger!
CHETRY: He doesn't look a day over 53. Thanks to you Harry, he has a great ride to go around the city in as well. You guys are doing great things out there. Thanks for sharing some of that story with us. It's so great to be able to talk about rebuilding when it comes to the ninth ward in New Orleans. Harry Connick, Jr., thanks.
CONNICK: Can Mr. Beattie say one thing before we go?
CHETRY: Yeah, sure.
BEATTIE: I'd like to thank Lincoln Mercury and I also would like to say when I came out here in this field, there was nothing -- you know, here but empty land. But I met so many wonderful people that I never will forget, that I never met, never seen before in my life and it made me think, you know, the type of people I've been around all my life where you had to fight for almost everything. You come out here and meet people that will holler from here across that field at you, they call you by name! I had never seen before in my life!
CHETRY: That is wonderful. That is wonderful, Chuck. It's so great to hear that. That's your place now. You got your Musicians Village and hopefully it will be a hub for teaching a lot of young people as well the art and the talent behind that music. Chuck, congratulations and Harry Connick, Jr., great to see you as well. Thanks.
By the way, Habitat for Humanity is one of the amazing groups that has done great things all over the country really but also really for the gulf coast. To find out what you can do to impact your world, cnn.com/impact, click on Katrina help. John?
ROBERTS: Sweet ride he's got there. "CNN NEWSROOM" just minutes away. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center now with a look at what's ahead. Hi Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there John. That's right. We're going to have new video from hurricane Humberto all morning in the CNN NEWSROOM. The storm dumping heavy rain on Texas and Louisiana now. Humberto crashed ashore this morning with 85-mile-an-hour winds. You see those pictures there.
Also, President Bush in a prime time address tonight. CNN will have live coverage, of course. A limited troop drawdown in Iraq will be the topic.
NFL spy games. Did the New England Patriots videotape the opposing team's sideline signals? Our guest on the possible cheating scandal.
Also breaking news when it happens. You're in the NEWSROOM at the top of the hour right here on CNN. John?
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. See you then Heidi.
COLLINS: OK.
ROBERTS: It's time for raw politics. A dustup between Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney over a Web site that, among other things, called Thompson a skirt-chasing moron? It doesn't get much more raw than that. Tom Foreman with raw politics ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Nine minutes to the top of the hour. Time for some raw politics and some campaign crossfire between Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney over a pretty vicious Web site. Tom Foreman takes us to thunder dome in this edition of "raw politics."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Republicans are struggling to regain the party discipline that makes them formidable campaigners. But a raw politics punch-up between Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney not helping.
Two men enter, one man leaves. Team Thompson is furious over a Web site linked indirectly to the Romney campaign. It called Thompson a skirt-chasing flip-flopping fancy boy trial lawyering moron. Then it got nasty. "The Washington Post" grabbed the screen before the site went dark. Romney says the site was juvenile and offensive and no one from his campaign was behind it. Camp Thompson calls that a half-baked cover-up. Romney is cooking in Florida with a new commercial.
Keep watching. He is lagging in national polls but leading in critical early voting states where he has spent a bundle on targeted ads. Why alligator land? Because he is chasing Rudy Giuliani there for a treasure chest full of delegates.
Congressional Democrats from Florida and Michigan have sent a letter of complaint to the Democratic National Committee. As we told you, both states are moving up their primaries. The national party and the big candidates say no! The states are vowing to continue their fight to get it done anyway. It's getting messy.
Elizabeth Edwards yakking it up with food net royalty Rachel Ray. Miss Ray's kitchen is becoming a yummo campaign stop, especially for the Democratic contenders. That's because democrats do better than republicans with women and if they want the White House, they need some of Rachel Ray's viewers in their voting recipe. (END OF VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And don't forget all of today's political news available any time day or night at cnn.com/ticker. Kiran, thunder dome? Those raw politic segments are out of control!
CHETRY: They are, aren't they? Here is a quick look at what the "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM" --
We've got Humberto all day. It hit Texas this morning with hurricane winds and heavy rain.
Another earthquake and aftershocks shake Indonesia today.
A prime time address tonight from President Bush. He is expected to announce a limited U.S. troop drawdown in Iraq.
And the girl who got text messages from a man in a diaper. NEWSROOM at the top of the hour on CNN.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's time to meet a CNN hero. He's a young man who's working to bridge a culture gap for young Muslims between a conservative religion and the western society they're joining. Mohammed Mamdani is today's CNN hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Many Muslims feel they are leading double lives because they have to behave in a particular way within the Muslim community and there's a conflict between trying to be old bridge, as well as being old Muslim at the same time. At the age of 17, I became more aware of the fact that so many of my Muslim peers were experiencing issues related to drugs, relationship problems with their families and mental health issues. These are common social problems, yet for the Muslim community, they are very much no-go areas. I felt I had to take responsibility for the situation and there began the story of Muslim youth help plan. My father installed a telephone line in my bedroom and it would ring at all times of the day. Sometimes in the middle of the night. Muslim Youth Help Line obviously, became my life. Six years on, we take thousands of calls related to depression, self-harm, suicidal feelings.
Yeah, we'll completely confidential.
We're sensitive to their faith and their culture. At the same time, we're non-judgmental, so it helps just having a Muslim on the other end of the phone that can understand and relate to these issues.
Yesterday, people of London suffered a terrible heartbreak together.
After the London bombings, I decided to start up a new project which aimed to deal with young people face-to-face.
Do that flip again. Let's see that flip!
The youth project is like a youth organization, it's a very friendly environment. It's a very brotherly environment and teaches them the skills to reconnect with their Muslim identity, while also learning to integrate better into British society. I wouldn't say the work that I do is necessarily heroic. It's just something that is needed in society. My aim is to help young Muslims just be themselves.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And by the way John, we just got confirmation moments ago Larry King does have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. How about that?
ROBERTS: How about that? In 1997, celebrating his 40th anniversary.
CHETRY: Well that's going to do it for us, thanks so much everyone.
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